"Ye taufa humne khud ko aur desh ko diya hai" - Fans go wild as Virat Kohli equals Sachin Tendulkar's 49 ODI centuries on his birthday

Virat Kohli equaled Sachin Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI centuries on his 35th birthday on Sunday against South Africa in the 2023 World Cup, sending his die-hard fans (and some critics) into a frenzy on social media.

Kohli reached the landmark ton against Kagiso Rabada in the 49th over. This was only in his 277th innings, much quicker than Tendulkar's 452 innings.

The right-handed batter came to bat when Rohit Sharma lost his wicket after giving India a crucial and brisk start. Shubman Gill went out soon as well and Kohli steadied the ship with a century partnership with Shreyas Iyer.

As the track slowed down and the ball got older, the wicket seemed to get more and more difficult to bat on. Kohli's pace slowed down and a wave of criticism followed on social media, most of which called him "obsessed" with a ton. He ended the innings at 101 (121) as India posted 326/5.

Here are some of the best reactions to Kohli's knock:

This was not the only Tendulkar record Kohli equaled on the day. He also became the second batter after the legendary former cricketer to score over 6,000 ODI runs at home and to collect 3,000 runs against South Africa in international cricket. He reached both at a quicker pace than Tendulkar.

"Stuff of dreams" - Virat Kohli

Speaking in the mid-innings break, Kohli talked about how he and Shreyas had a lot of practice sessions together before the 2023 Asia Cup and wanted to bring that all to fruition today. He also said his role was initially to continue momentum but changed when the pitch started to grip more.

Kohli said on his special knock:

"Every opportunity to play for India is an honor for me. To do this on my birthday in front of this crowd is the stuff of dreams. I'm grateful to God for the kind of love I've got from the crowd."

Catch the second innings live here!